How To Segment Leads For Your Freelance Business Using An Inquiry Form

By Jennifer Bourn on October 25, 2018

Set your freelance business up for success by creating an inquiry form that segments leads so you can provide prospects tailored messaging, perfectly-matched resources, and customized follow up.

Almost every freelance designer, freelance web developer, and creative agency have the same project inquiry form — a single form that prospects can fill out to provide some information about a new project. While some are short and sweet, and some are long and require some work to complete, most are fairly generic and only go as far as gathering the most basic information.

While a basic new project inquiry form that facilitates the collection of data from prospects about their projects is a valuable tool for any freelancer, an inquiry form that does only that is leaving money on the table.

A successful new project inquiry form needs to not only collect data but segment leads for targeted messaging, specific value-add opportunities, and customized follow up. When your inquiry form can do all of these things, you’ll close more sales faster, which means more money in your pockets.

Let me explain…

When a prospect fills out a new project inquiry form, usually one of two things happen:

They are shown a short generic message that says something like, “Thank you for reaching out about your project. We’ll be in touch soon.”

They are redirected to a thank you page with a similar message and maybe a secondary call to action to connect via social media or check out the company’s blog.

A generic thank you page is a decent approach, and it does work, but what if you wanted to step it up and take it to the next level. What if you wanted to provide a better, more personal experience that positioned you or your agency above every other provider the prospect was speaking with?

In this case, you need to do more with your inquiry form.

Imagine this…

A prospect comes to your website, loves what they see, is interested in working with you, and fills out your project inquiry form.

They answer a few questions about their project, budget, and timeline, and based on their answers they receive targeted messaging, helpful resources that are specific to their project, and a customized follow up campaign.

They are so impressed with the attention to detail and care put into the experience that hiring you becomes a no-brainer and when you communicate your project fee, they happily say yes without hesitation.

With this approach, the lead inquiry form is working for you to actively segment leads into specific groups or profiles instead of treating every inquiry exactly the same.

Why Segmenting Leads Is Important

Every lead is not equal because every lead doesn’t hold the same value.

There are five types of new project inquiries every service provider receives, whether you’re a freelance designer, web developer, or agency:

Tire-kickers: Prospects who aren’t serious are spamming contact forms with generic messages or just want to know how much a website costs without providing any information

Not a good fit: Prospects who aren’t a good fit for you but can be referred elsewhere.

Might be a good fit: Prospects who have an interesting project and might be a good fit, but you don’t yet have enough information to be sure.

Definitely a good fit: Prospects who have an interesting project and budget, and their timeline works for you.

Direct referral: Prospects who were referred to you by someone they trust.

A generic lead collection form treats all of these inquiries the same, but an inquiry form that segments the submissions based on specific information provided will allow you to:

Automatically provide tire-kickers a pre-written “no thanks” response and refer those who aren’t a good fit elsewhere.

Ask for more information from those who might be a good fit.

Provide those who are definitely a good fit and direct referrals an immediate link to schedule an appointment.

This approach better serves those contacting you about their project, by quickly providing the next best step. For example, those who aren’t a good fit get referrals to tools, resources or other providers who would be a better fit and those who are a great fit, get fast-tracked and invited to book a consult immediately.

This approach also saves a lot of time by managing inbound leads for you. An inquiry form that segments leads means no more time wasted on leads that never convert to new business and more money in your pocket.

Some links used on this site are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About Jennifer Bourn

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Bourn is founding partner at Bourn Creative, a full service design and development company specializing in WordPress. With twenty years in the industry under her belt, she is an award-winning designer who consults on branding, website strategy, and content strategy. Jennifer speaks often, delivering workshops and keynote presentations, blogs about food and travel at Inspired Imperfection, co-organizes the Sacramento WordPress Meetup and WordCamp Sacramento, and writes often for other websites on freelancing, client services, blogging, marketing, websites, and branding.

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